Cord-carrier for underground conduits



(N0 Model.)

S. R. BRADLEY. CORD CARRIER FOR UNDERGROUND GONDUITS. No. 479,397.Patented July 26, 1892.

WITNESSES:

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ATTOR N EY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN R. BRADLEY, OF NYACK, NEW YORK.

CORD-CARRIER FOR UNDERGROUND CONDUITS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 479,397, dated July 26,1892. Application filed January 2'7, 1892. Serial No. 419,475. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ST PHEN ROWE BRAD- LEY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Nyack, in the county of Rockland and State ofNew York, have invented a certain new and useful Wire or Cord Carrier,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful device for carrying wires orcords through tubes or conduits; and, generally stated, it consists inanelectro-magnet or gang of magnets the armature or armatures whereof, byreason of the intermittent making and breaking of the electric circuit,actuates devices which engage with the interior wall of the tube orconduit in such manner as to propel the'carrier through the tube.Various mechanism may be employed for this purpose. I illustrate oneform hereinafter to be described but others may-be substituted for it.

My invention also contemplates means whereby the carrier may beWithdrawn from the tube whenever desired, the devices which engage withthe inner walls of the tube being at such time partially withdrawntherefrom, or at all events their pressure against the wall reduced, sothat the carrier can be withdrawn without injury.

In the drawings hereof, Figure 1 illustrates an elevation of the device,partly in section, the circuit being opened. Fig. 2 illustrates anelevation, partly in section, the circuit being closed. Fig. 3illustrates a rear view of the carrier sectioned transversely aboutmidway of the length of the magnets. Fig. l is a detail of the armatureand adjacent parts.

A is the tube or conduit.

B is the carrier. It comprises a frame 0 C,

' within which are supported electro-magnets.

Four are shown in the drawings. There may be as many as desired, more orless than four. E, Fig. 1, is the induction-wire. I I F, Fig. 1, is theeduction-wire. These are ordinary wires for carrying current to and fromthe coils of the magnets.

G is a cord or wire,which is attached to the rear portion of themagnet-frame which is to be carried through the conduit by the carrier,to the exposed end of which the heavier conductor itself is to beattached, which will in turn be drawn through thetube by this wire.

H is the armature. In this instance it is made in the shape of a disk,which is mounted upon a spindle I and slides upon it. This spindle isfastened at its rear end to the frame of the magnets and is threaded atits forward extremity.

J is a double spring, which is clamped upon a shoulder made on thespindle I by means of a washer K and nut L. The ends of the spring Jpass through and freely slide in holes made idn two eyes M M, fastenedtothe armatureisk.

N N N, 850., are what I term the spiderlegs of my device. They are madeof spring metal and on their free ends are preferably provided withbarbs or spurs O O, which are arranged with a rearward inclination, asshown clearly in Fig. 4. These legs have an inclined section P, in rearof which there is a somewhat abrupt turn Q, constituting a partialshoulder.

R is a ring, which is prevented from moving forwardly by a shoulder S onthe armature-disk, but is free to move rearwardly.

T (see Figs. 1, 2, and 3) is a ring fastened to the exterior of themagnets, and to it are fastened other spider-legs U U, &c., the same inconstruction as the spider-legs N before described.

V is a ring, substantially the same as the ring R, adapted to moverearwardly,but pre vented from moving too far forwardly by pins W W (seeFig. 1) on the ring T.

Y Y are cords or small chains, which connect the rings V and R,compelling them to move together rearwardly; but by reason of theslacking of the chain or cord the ring R can move, with the armatureI'I, toward and from the magnets.

z z are cords, there being preferably a number of them, as shown in Fig.3, which are attached to the ring V, and all come together at a point A,(see Figs. 1 and 2,) and .from that point asingle cord 13 extendsrearwardly to the end of the tube.

The operation is as follows: The tractioncord G is attached to the endof the device. It is then introduced by hand into the rear end of thetube or conduit and the circuit is closed. The magnets are immediatelyenergized and the armature is attracted; but since the barbs of thespider-legs attached to it have the rearward inclination, it (thearmature) A and B after it. The circuit is then opened and the springs.I immediately assert themselves. They are not so powerful as themagnetswhen energized, but are sufliciently powerful to efiect the movement ofthe parts herein described. They endeavor either to shove the magnetsrearwardly or to pull the armature forwardly. The magnets now in theirturn cannot move rearwardly, because the barbs on their spider-legs,setting into any inequalities in the wall of the tube, catch in them andprevent such movement. The armature can, however, come forwardly,because the barbs upon its spiderlegs now act in the same way that thoseupon the magnets formerly acted. Consequently the armature is drawnforward into the position shown in Fig. 1. Thus an advance of the wholemechanism has been made through the tube a distance equal to thedistance separating the armature and the magnets. The operation is nowrepeated. The circuit is now again closed, which of course efiects arepetition of all the above-recited movements. As is well known, themaking and the breaking of the circuit can be made a matter of greatrapidity. Consequently my device moves through tubes and conduits at asatisfactory rate of speed.

If anything happens to the device-as, for instance, if one of theelectric wires E or F should become detached or broken, or if thecarrier meets any obstruction in the pipes and cannot get past itthen inorder that the whole apparatus may be retracted and withdrawn it isdesirable to remove the pressure of the spider-legs against the innerwall of the pipe. Consequently the cord Bis pulled upon from the rear,it of course being of such length as to remain at all times under thecontrol of the operator. The pull on this cord draws rearwardly the ringV, and the connecting cords or chains Y in turn draw rearwardly the ringR. They slide up upon the inclined section P (see Fig. 4) of the legsand crowd them inwardly, as shown in dotted lines in that figure. When,however, they come into engagement with the partial shoulder Q, they arestopped by those shoulders against further movement. Thus thespider-legs (all of them) are withdrawn from any considerable pressureagainst the sides of the conduit or pipe, the lower ones only havingengagement with it and then only to the extent of the weight of thecarrier. The carrier may then be drawn rearwardly by the wire or cord Gand by the cord B, if desired, and if the legs on the bottom of theconduit slightly catch upon pipe-joints and the like a little working ofthe parts or slight strain upon the cord G or B will cause thespider-legs to spring, which will immediately release the device and itswithdrawal may be continued.

I make my carriers of differing sizes to coincide with different sizesof pipe, although carriers of the same size will run through pipeshaving considerable variation in size because of the elasticity of thelegs, and I prefer to provide quite a number of legs upon.

both the ring T and the armature, as shown, so that the device may beproperly centered in the tube, and also so that there may be asufficient number of legs to secure the requisite engagement or holdingaction against the walls of the tube or conduit.

I do not limit myself to the details of struction shown and described.

It is obvious that alterations may be made in the details ofconstruction of the parts and that other parts may be substituted forsome of those mentioned by me and still the essentials of my inventionbe employed. It is also obvious that if the tube or conduit be of metalthe induction-wire E is all that need come from the generator, becausethe return-current may be made through one or more of the legs to themetallic conduit itself. I prefer, however, to employ the twocircuit-wires E and F; also, the wire E or F may be employed after thecarrier has passed through the pipe as the means for pulling thepermanent conductor through, or if it be too heavy then such wire maypull through another stronger cord or wire, which will in turn pull theconductor itself through. When so used, it will not be necessary toemploy the tractioncord G.

I claim- 1. The combination, in a carrier, of an electro-magnet, anarmature having a retractile spring, means connected with the armature,and other means connected with the magnet which bear against the wallsof the tube, both of said means being adapted to resist rearwardmovement, whereby the attraction of the armature by the magnets elfectsa forward movement of the magnets and the action of the armature-springeifects a forward movement of the armature, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a wire-carrier, of an electro-magnet, anarmature, a spring or springs for retracting the armature, elastic legsattached to the armature, and other similar legs attached to themagnets, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, in a wire-carrier, of an electro-magnet, anarmature, a spring or springs for retracting the armature, elastic legsattached to the armature, other similar legs attached to the magnets,and longitudinally-moving rings provided with cords adapted to slideover the legs and draw them inconwardly, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, in a wire-carrier, of an IIO electro-magnet, asliding armature, a spindle projecting beyond the magnets upon which thearmature slides, a spring or springs attached to the spindle, whichengage with the armature, and devices actuated by the movement of thearmature which engage with the sides of the tube, and other devices forsupporting the magnets, substantially as set forth.

5. In a wire-carrier, an electro-magnet, an armature, means forretracting the armature, and spider-legs attached both to the armatureand to the magnets and provided with rearwardly-extending barbs,substantially as set forth.

6. In a wire-carrier, an electro-magnet, an armature, means forretracting the armature, spider-legs attached both to the armature andthe magnets, provided with rearwardly-extending barbs, and means fordrawing the spider-legs inwardly, operated by a cord or Wire extendingto the rear end of the tube, substantially as set forth.

7. In a wire-carrier, an armature provided with springs for itsretraction and having legs attached to it extending from the armature tothe inner walls of the tube, an electro-magnet, and a movable ringprovided with means to pull the same rearwardly, adapted to slide overthe inclined surface upon the legs, substantially as set forth.

8. In a wire-carrier, an electro-magnet and an armature provided withsprings for its retraction and having legs attached to it extendingfromlthe armature to the inner walls of the tube, said legs havingrearwardly-extending barbs or points to engage with the walls of thetube, substantially as set forth.

9. The combination,in a wire-carrier, of an electro-magnet provided withan armature, means attached to the armature which engage with the wallsof the tube, and other means attached to the magnets, which likewiseengage with the walls of the tube, said means being (both of them)provided with devices whereby they catch on the walls of the tube whenmoved in one direction, but not when moved in the other direction,substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 22d day of January, A. D. 1892.

STEPHEN R. BRADLEY.

Witnesses PHILLIP ABBOTT, J. E; HOFFMAN.

